Sunday, November 16, 2014

Bankers go from scoundrels to heroes...someday

"Like
most people, I sometimes feel that we live in a world where the absurd
and the cruel are not only accepted but barely remarked upon. At a time
when, as a result of the recent banking catastrophe, people all over the
world are suffering the longest squeeze on living standards since
before the second world war, when record numbers rely on food banks
to survive and cuts in spending on flood defences have exacerbated the
pain caused by the wettest January in 250 years, the financial sector is
handing out billions in bonuses as though the economic crisis never happened. This year the total bonus pool since the 2008 crash will break through the £80bn barrier – around three and a half times the amount banks have paid in Corporation tax and the bank levy (pdf). That's about £1,250 for every man woman and child in the UK.(On top of their incredible salaries.)

These figures are alarming. Not because I have anything against
bankers – who I am sure on average are no more or less agreeable than
actors or biochemists – but because of the injustice that lies behind
them. Having been bailed out to the tune of several trillion dollars
worldwide, the current situation where huge sums of money remain untaxed
is bewildering. It seems to me a fundamental question of fairness that
all elements of society should be equally responsible for the protection
of hospitals and the less advantaged everywhere.